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A Mudgee family is making the drastic choice to relocate to the United States in an effort to save their children from a life surrounded by life-threatening foods.
Holly and Mark Jessop, parents to three children, Jack, Pearl and Riley - who are six, four and two respectively all have severe allergies to a variety of common foods which include; eggs, dairy, nuts, peanuts, legumes and seeds.
Exposure can cause a painful rash or in more extreme cases, anaphylaxis.
"It's like walking outside and seeing poison everywhere, we don't see it as food."
- Holly Jessop
Ever since their first child was found to have a food allergy, Holly and Mark have had to adapt to life in ways they never expected to keep their children safe and live some semblance of a normal life.
"I was baking once and Jack touched a cloth that had raw egg on it. He didn't actually eat it but just touched it and maybe rubbed his eyes or got some in his mouth," Jack's mother, Holly said.
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"His face swelled up, he was covered head to toe in a rash. He couldn't open his eyes. By the time I got to the hospital he was coughing and then we had tests and six weeks later and realised we were dealing with another egg allergy."
It isn't just around the home that the Jessop family has had to make changes, once they step outside, the risk ratchets up another level.
"There are so many things we can't do or choose not to do because it's so risky," Holly said.
"With one child you can manage, but with three - with all these allergies - particularly Riley with his dairy allergy we can't risk it,"
"You go to a kids park, there's kids drinking milk or there's a crushed up biscuit on the ground, you don't realise he's been exposed until it's too late,"
"For myself and my husband Mark, it's like walking outside and seeing poison everywhere, we don't see it as food. Even going shopping, you have to thoroughly wipe down the shopping trolley in case it's contaminated,"
"It's a very anxious way of living, you have to worry about your kids and what you're eating and what you're feeding them."
Holly and Mark say the move will give them access to a treatment not currently available in Australia. One they hope will be the breakthrough they're praying for.
Douglas Jones, an american MD who works at the Rocky Mountain Allergy clinic in Utah is the man the Jessops hope can administer the breakthrough treatment known as Oral Immunotherapy (OIT).
According to the clinic's website, Dr Jones' method involves:
Introducing minute doses of milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nuts, sesame, or wheat solution form for about six months, the time varying according to individual differences.
The program progresses to small doses of the whole food for a number of months, allowing the patient to eat these foods. The treatment allows the vast majority of patients to overcome their milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, sesame and wheat allergies.
While many families have praised the treatment as a 'miracle'. Experts warn those considering it to inform themselves of the potential risks and realities.
The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology (ASCI) and allergy states that 'Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) is an emerging experimental treatment, and its benefits and harms are still being studied in clinical trials in Australia and globally.'
The ASCI says that 'published trials show that OIT for food allergy can result in desensitisation in many people, but most do not show sustained unresponsiveness.'
It also stresses that people with food allergies and their families are aware that there is currently no standardised method for OIT treatment and even in the United States, none are FDA-approved.
Any methods are still technically under trial and experts don't recommend OIT for use outside of clinical trials at this time.
Holly said they are willing to do whatever it takes to give their children a 'normal' life.
"We almost used our super, which you can sometimes use for life-saving treatments. I look at this as life-changing. It could save their lives one day. Some people have sold their homes," Holly said.
"We're in this all the way."